Summers Gift
by Golden Snitch1981
Summary: Sequel to She's like the Wind. Johnny thought he was over Baby, but then a parcel arrives on his doorstep, not only taking him back to a painful past, but changing his life forever.
1. Unexpected Parcel

I refused to think about her until the day "it" arrived on my doorstep with a note from her. It wasn't that I didn't want to think of her. I just couldn't. It hurt too much. Walking away from Baby had been the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. It was too painful to think that I had fought to be with Baby, the whole summer, only for her to practically dump me after the final dance. I would have married her and I would have given up everything to be with her, but Baby wasn't prepared to give anything up for me.

I guess it wasn't fair of me to expect her to. She had worked her whole life towards college and I knew that the Peace Core was her dream. I would never have stopped her, just been there through it all to celebrate her triumphs. That would have been enough.

I returned home to work with my father as a house painter and taught dance at the community college, pushing all thoughts of Baby way down into the pit of my stomach, where I could forget she existed. I had fling after fling and I lived for the moment. I didn't know that the previous summer could come back to haunt me. The harsh reminder was in the shape of an infant girl, Dad found on the doorstep one evening in a basket with a note.

The realization hit me as I studied the familiar handwriting in the note. Her neatly written words brought everything flooding back. "Dear Johnny," it said.

_This is Penny, your daughter. I didn't know what else to do with her. I can't keep a baby and go to college and to leave her with Mom and Dad would mean she would grow up feeling as trapped as I was. I know you'll look after her and keep her safe. I also know you will bring her up to be a well adjusted, humbled young lady who knows she is loved. I know you will love her as much you loved me and as I loved... still love you. _

_Baby_

I folded the note and stuffed it into a drawer in my room. I stared down at my sleeping daughter, with her little button nose and tuff of golden brown hair. "I guess I'm your Daddy, huh?" I whispered, gently touching her little nose. Her little body twitched under the pink wrap and she began to make suckling sounds, but she remained asleep. I carried the basket with the sleeping baby over to the bedside table and placed it gently on top. I watched her sleep for quite a long time before I lay back against my pillows with my arms folded behind my head.

How could this have happened? Why hadn't she told me before now? How was I going to take care of a child, when I could barely care for myself? I this thoughts circled my head until I drifted off to a light doze. I tossed and turned for hours until I finally sunk into unconsciousness, but it wasn't to last. Penny began to cry. I rose and picked her up out of the basket.

"What's the matter, little one?" I nursed her for ages, but she would not settle. "Come on," I whispered. "Please stop crying."

"Maybe she's wet," my mother's voice cut into the noise.

"Do we have any diapers?" I asked.

"Well luckily, your father thought to get some, last night after she arrived." She smiled.

I followed her to the bathroom where a packet of diapers stood on the counter. Mom laid a towel down over the counter and proceeded to unpack a diaper. I stood, helpless as I watched Mom change Penny. "How am I going to do this, Mom?"

"You'll learn." She simply said and I hoped she was right.


	2. Mother and Daughter Meet

Mom was right. I did learn along the way, but it wasn't easy, that's for sure. I mastered the diapers and the bottle feeding, but then came the teething and the vomiting, and I felt like I was back at square one, dealing with the crying all night. Penny, generally was such a happy baby and everyone that met her, fell in love with her, just like I imagined they had with her mother. Baby dropped the occasional two line letter, asking how Penny was and telling me how great life had turned out for her. I wrote back, sending photograph's along with the letter's and when Penny had her first haircut, I kept a clipping, taped to a letter and sent it to Baby.

By that time, Penny was fourteen months old and walking everywhere, on her toes. "She's definitely a dancer, like her Daddy," Mom said, one as she watched Baby tip-toe across the living room. All I could do was smile at my little angel and think of how much Baby was missing out on her daughter's life. That was when I had the idea.

I scrounged around for a piece of paper and a pen. "Would you like to see her?" I wrote and sent it off to Baby. For a while there was no response, and I was beginning to lose hope that Baby would ever want to see her daughter, but then a letter came.

"Sure, I'd love to. I'm in town, where can we meet?" Her handwriting was as gentle and beautiful as Baby had always been, or as I remembered her, anyway. I wrote down the directions to my home and mailed it.

A few days later, she arrived, in a shiny new Black Mercedes and Mama had been the one to run screaming into the nursery, where I was preparing Penny to meet her mother. "She's darn, got herself rich, Johnny," she said.

"She already was, Ma," I replied. Mom combed Penny's hair and tied a tiny pink ribbon in it. "We'll get you all pretty for your Mama, Sweetie." When she was done I hoisted Penny into my arms and followed Mom out the front door. I hadn't thought a great deal about coming face to face with the woman that broke my heart, but there I was, at that moment, wishing I hadn't been there. There was Baby, here wild hair, grown out to her waist and her blue dress flowed to her ankles and blowing softly in the breeze.

Suddenly everything I wanted to say had blown away with the wind. Thank God for Mom who stepped forward to welcome Baby. "I've heard so much about you," she said ignoring Baby's extended and, only to embrace her warmly. Baby smiled, awkwardly, but accepted the hug, graciously. There was a serene beauty about Baby that I hadn't remembered that could only come of being free from the shackles of her parents.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Castle," Baby said lightly, but sincerely. "Johnny," she acknowledged my presence, finally. There was pain in her voice, but I ignored it. She wasn't the only one hurting. She chose to leave me. She had rejected me and she had given up Penny. They had been all her choices. I had no sympathy for mother of my child.

"Baby," I replied and followed her and my Mom into the house. Right away Mom boiled some water to make coffee. Baby stood in our tiny kitchen, like a lost doe in a lion's pit, in spite of my mother's best efforts to make her feel at ease.

"So this is my little girl?" Baby whispered, tearfully, reaching out for her.

"_Our_ little girl," I corrected her. I was more than a little annoyed by her mistake. I handed her over to Baby, my skin burning from the accidental brushing of our arms together. I pulled my arms away and busied myself, smoothing Penny's mousy blond hair.

"She's beautiful. Johnny, you've taken really good care of her," Baby commented.

"Of course I have. Mom has helped me so much with her. She's the one you should thank," I said. Every word Baby said seemed to cut me like a knife and I couldn't wait for her to leave. I moved to the entrance of our kitchen and stood, eyeing Baby as she sat with the little girl in her lap.

"Hello, Penny. Remember me? I'm your Mommy, yes I am!" she said in a silly voice. Instantly, Penny began to cry. "It's okay Honey. Shh! Don't cry," she soothed. "I can't believe how much I've missed out on."

"She's walking, you know," I said. Baby set her down and Penny ran, on her toes, over to me and I scooped her up into my arms.

"Wow! Does she always walk on her toes?" Baby asked.

I nodded and Mom spoke. "That's a sign, that she'll be a dancer, you know, like her Daddy."

"She'll be a wonderful dancer, then." Baby's eyes were moist and I knew she was holding back tears, but there was a soft smile on her lips and I knew that, like me, she was remembering that final dance that summer.


	3. Letting Go of Baby

"You to have a lot to talk about," Mom said as she served up our coffees. Then she disappeared from the kitchen. I was alone with Baby for the first time since that night at Kellerman's. I remained standing in the doorway, with my arms folded across my chest.

"I've missed you, Johnny," Baby whispered. Her eyes were spilling over and my heart ached. "I never loved anyone but you."

Her words echoed my soul, but I wasn't willing to admit that to her. "Baby, we could have been together. You, me and Penny, we could have made it work. I would have married you. I would have followed you to the end of the earth, just to be with you."

"I know, Johnny," Baby sobbed. "I just didn't want to do that to you. You love dancing and you love teaching."

"I could've done that anywhere, Baby and you know it. You were just using me, to get away from Daddy," I spat. "So tell me did you get away, or is that his car in the drive?"

"It's not like that! Johnny, I promised you. When I told you I was scared of never feeling the way I felt with you ever again, I _meant_ it. I _loved _you!" Baby stood and moved in front of me. "Please believe me."

"Honestly Baby, I don't know what to believe," I mumbled, moving to get away from her. Her jaw dropped and I could tell I had stung her. "What did you expect, Baby, a second chance? Did you think we could just go on, play happy families and be the people we were, back then?" There was a burning fire in my eyes as I glared at her and my chest ached. "Too much has changed."

"But I thought –," Baby began, but I cut her off. I didn't want to hear it.

"I asked you to come so you could meet our daughter, Baby, that's all. I'm over you," I spat, more for my benefit than for hers. "Now Penny is due for a nap, so I suggest you leave."

Without a word, Baby picked up her purse and slipped out the door. Tears streamed down her face, but I was too angry to care. Her presence had only opened up old wounds and the only person to blame for that was me.

I never heard from Baby again, although I sent her photos of Penny as she grew older. When she turned four, I sent Baby a photo of her in her first leotard, a pink tutu, which she wore in a ballet recital.

Everyone was right. Penny was turning out to be a terrific dancer. Her teacher, an old Rocket friend of woman Penny was named after, was amazed at what a talent, Penny was at such a young age. Penny was somewhat becoming the dance school's top student and by the time she was ten, she was the youngest _en Pointe_ dancer in her class. She was cast the lead role of Aurora in the school's production of _The Sleeping Beauty_. I took lots of pictures, some of which I sent to Baby.

After several weeks, the photos and all the other photos and letters returned, with Baby's parents' address on the envelope. I opened the accompanying letter and read, "_We regret to inform you, Baby is missing, somewhere in Vietnam._" Tears splashed the page as I read on about how Baby had volunteered in Vietnam with the Peace Corp. and how she was presumed dead. "She never loved anyone like you, Johnny," Baby's mother's handwriting scrawled across the fancy stationery. I folded the letter and put it with the rest of the letters in a box and slid it into the back of my wardrobe. I would keep it until Penny was old enough to understand. Sadly, I went to find Penny.

She was combing a doll's hair, happily and it broke my heart. How was I going to tell her that her mother was never coming back. She had always fantasised that her mother would return, marry her Daddy and we'd all live happily ever after. I guess a tiny part me wished for that, too. That dream had been crushed for me and I was going to have to be the one to crush it for Penny.

"Penny, I need you to listen to me for a minute," I whispered. I choked back a sob.

"What is it, Daddy?" she asked, climbing onto my lap as I sat on her bed. Never had she sounded so much like her mother than at that moment. Her mousy locks flowed down her back in messy ringlets and I lightly ran my fingers through it, detangling the curls.

"You're Mom is missing in the war," I whispered. I couldn't think of any other way to say the terrible words.

"They will find her, won't they?" she asked. "Then she can come here and marry you."

I shook my head sadly. I knew it was going to be tough for her to understand it. "I need you to be prepared for... if they don't find her." I chose my words carefully, but it was no use as the tears fell down her precious cheeks. "I'm sorry, Baby-doll, I wish I didn't have to tell you that."

She clung to me that afternoon, crying, her face buried in my chest until she fell asleep.


	4. Just Like a Dream

She practically floated across the lawn months later and I was sure she was just a dream. Her hair was still long and her dress billowed around her bare feet. Penny, almost eleven' burst out of the house and as soon as she saw Baby, she ran straight into her arms. "Are you here to stay?" She asked, wrapping her arms around her mother. It was then I knew she was real.

"Baby?" I Whispered. It was then I noticed out gaunt she was, but for the tiny bump around her midsection. "Where have you been, Baby? Everyone's been worried sick!"

"Can we go inside? We need to talk." Baby, without invitation, trudged up our front steps and down the hall into the kitchen.

"Sure. Penny, please go find Grandma, okay?" I ordered, gently.

"But –," she protested, not wanting to let her mother go.

"Please, Baby-doll, do what Daddy says, huh?" I urged.

"Okay, Daddy." She bolted out the back door and across the yard to the shed in search of my mother. Baby and I were alone.

"What happened, Baby? They said you were Missing in Action or something, was it true?" I asked, sitting across from her at the kitchen table.

"I was lost for quite some time, yes... It's too painful to talk about, but now I have another man's child." She burst into tears. "I don't know what to do." I moved to comfort her, what whatever it was she had been through it must have been a terrible ordeal. "I need you to hold me, Johnny. I need to feel what it's like to be in the arms of someone I love, who loves me! Please Johnny, just hold me. I held her close, as she asked and old feelings stirred. I stood and took her hand. "Dance with me?" I whispered and she stood, in my arms.

For a moment we just swayed in each other's arms and then the steps and the moves took over like old times. The radio in the back ground, I noticed, was playing our song, from our time in the cabin. I dipped her and she grinded her body against me, and I was transported back to the time when I had no doubt that she loved me. She wrapped her arms around me and we moved together, like one. Then I kissed her, both of us blinded by our tears and the love we had denied ourselves. My hands caressed her body and as I dipped her back, my lips rested on her chest at the scooping neckline of her dress. It was then I heard two lots of footsteps and Baby and I broke apart.

"Mom, you remember my Grandma, do you?" Penny asked as Mom step close to give Baby a welcome embrace.

"It's to see that you are safe, Baby. We thought we'd lost you for a while there." Baby smiled as Mom began to boil the water for coffee.

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away," Baby whispered.

"I notice you have a bun in the oven, Girl. How far along are you?" Mom asked.

"Four months," Baby replied bashfully.

"And the father?" I asked, possibly a little bluntly.

"Hopefully never to be seen again. I blame my parents. They set me up with him." Baby spat, "But he was still the same total creep, I remember from the Kellerman days.

"Neil? They set you up with Neil Kellerman, again?" I exploded.

Baby shook her head. "Not Neil, Robbie."

"They set you up with Robbie, after everything he did to Penny and to your sister?" I was beside myself with anger. "Whatever makes Daddy happy, even if his daughter's aren't" I was pacing the floor, frantically and Mom was doing her best to try to calm me down. "Did you...."

"He forced himself." Baby was gasping as she said it and suddenly I was aware of our daughter, standing in the room, confused and teary.

"Penny, can I talk to your Mom, alone, please" I asked.

"I'll take her to the chicken coop. She can help me feed them!" Mom led Penny out of the kitchen.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore!" Baby cried. I held her in my arms and stroked her hair.

"It's okay, Baby. I won't let anyone hurt you again," I soothed. She rocked in my arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I should have stay with you, Johnny. I should have never hurt you." She was mumbling apologies into my chest, but I didn't care. The past was behind us and as long as I was alive, I would not let anything or anyone hurt Baby again.


	5. At Last

"Are you sure you want to do this?" George Houseman asked his daughter. He couldn't help feeling proud of the beautiful girl who had been his world from the time she was born. He still had his doubts that I was a suitable choice for his daughter, but seeing what a marvellous job, I had done raising Penny, in his eyes, had softened the old man's demeanour as far as his thoughts of me went.

"Yes, Daddy, I've never been this sure of anything," Baby whispered, smiling. "Thank you for being here for me." She knew how hard it was for him to come to terms with having me, the rogue dance teacher become part of his extended family.

"Just try to keep me away," he replied, winking as he spoke. "You look wonderful, Baby." His eyes did yet another once over from the flowers in Baby's hair, down the flowing ivory gown to the matching ivory hears. He then stole a glance at his other daughter, Lisa, who was beaming proudly in her scarlet chiffon gown and matching scarlet heals. Then his eyes shifted to his little grand-daughter, whose life he was beginning to regret missing so much of. Her white dress and scarlet sash, made her look like a princess and quite grown up, George admitted to himself, sadly.

Penny stepped forward, proudly as the music began to play, sprinkling red and white rose petals as she glided, in the way she had practised from the very moment she had learned that her mother and father were finally going to marry. For Penny, this moment was a dream-come-true. Etta James' voice rang out from the record player and I couldn't help the feeling that the lyrics suited our life. At last George accepted me, at last Baby wanted to be the wife and mother Penny and I needed her to be and at last Penny would have a mother, her rightful mother, who would be there as the neared the years in her life when only a mother would understand what she would need.

Then Lisa took her first clumsy steps down the isle and eyed her warily, mentally urging her to make it all the way without tumbling. Then it was Baby's turn and with her father, holding her steady, she inched her way closer to me and to the wonderful future she knew we would finally get to enjoy. She looked around at the sea of proud faces that beamed up at her and spotted Penny Johnson, the woman she had named her child after, in the second row, dabbing her blotchy eyes with a tissue. My cousin, Billy stood beside her.

I shifted my eyes away from them and stared back at the procession, led by my daughter, then followed by Lisa and I gazed past Baby's crazy sister to the beautiful woman that was about to become my wife. I choked back the tears that welled up inside me as I finally let go of all the anger and the hurt for how life had panned out in the past eleven years. None of that mattered now that our family would finally be together, at last.


End file.
